Phenology of Centennial Woods

When I visited my spot in Centennial Woods this week, I was excited to see shades of green and hear sounds of spring, such as the birds chirping and water running. There were small green plants beginning to emerge from the ground through the fallen leaves of last autumn. The trees and other woody plants were budding, with some already growing new leaves.

In addition to the new greenery, I saw and heard many birds while I sat at my spot. I’m lucky to have two bird feeders at my spot, giving me a great view of several small birds. Pictured below on the left are a black-capped chickadee and American goldfinch sharing a feeder, but I also saw a tufted titmouse, a pine warbler, and a white-breasted nuthatch. I noticed a hawk fly overhead as well, which I identified to be a red-shouldered hawk with the help of the Merlin Bird ID app’s sound feature. I even saw a red squirrel climbing a tree! Using some of these wildlife sightings, I created a species interaction diagram pictured below on the right.

Over the course of the past year, I definitely developed a connection to my spot and developed a better understanding for local nature. I saw how nature and culture intertwined firsthand in many ways. I noticed that people and wildlife both come out more when the weather is nice. I also saw a connection between the natural and human world when I would try to decipher if paw prints belonged to coyotes or domestic dogs. I had never studied the phenology of one spot through the seasons before, so I felt this was a valuable experience. I do feel like a part of this spot in some ways, because I feel like I’ve grown and changed with it over this year as well. I will definitely be visiting again in the years to come, so this is not a goodbye, but a see you soon to my spot.

I loved the idea of the City Nature Challenge BioBlitz when I learned about it, so I was excited to be a part of it this year in Burlington. I uploaded my first picture to iNaturalist on the way to my 8:30 chemistry class on very first day, pictured below on the right of a ring-billed gull. I originally identified it as a member of the “Gulls” group, but in no time, there were two comments suggesting a more precise identification. It was cool to see that other members of the community were committed to helping others identify species. I made several more observations over the next few days, mostly of bird species. One of these was the American robin pictured below on the left, which I observed on athletic campus on Friday.

On Sunday, I ventured off campus into Centennial Woods, where I observed several bird species eating from the feeders including American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, and tufted titmouse. If I were to do the BioBlitz again, I think I would expand on what type of species I observed to include more plants and other types of animals. I would also spend more time looking at what was going on in other cities, because I was shocked to see so many new species, so much biodiversity, and so many observers when I scrolled through the global City Nature Challenge 2022 group on iNaturalist. It created a sense of global community to know that people across the world are appreciating nature and participating in citizen science at the same time. I’m looking forward to taking part in this event again next year!

Over the weekend, I visited Cumberland Bay State Park in Plattsburgh, New York. It’s located across the lake from Burlington on the western shore of Lake Champlain and has a large natural sand beach. Since the park is situated next to the same lake as Burlington, it is very similar to Burlington in its natural history and general ecology. The glacial retreat ~13,000 years ago and the subsequent formation of Lake Vermont and then the Champlain Sea have shaped the landscape in this area.

When I visited the park, it was around 45 degrees and just about to rain. There were still large patches of snow in some spots and a decent amount of ice in the lake, but it was clear that they were in the process of melting away. The trees were still barren of leaves, creating a mostly brown landscape. However, there was some green peeking through to signal the approach of spring. We came across some small sand dunes where I found quite a bit of moss as well as some new grass starting to grow under the dead grass. I even saw bugs jumping around on the sand, which were the first bugs I’ve seen outside this year!

In addition to the plants and bugs, I saw many birds that reminded me the seasons were changing. I saw two flocks of birds migrating in groups across the park while I was there. One group I could tell was geese, but the other group I could not make out as well. I also saw several seagulls flying over the water as well as smaller songbirds dwelling in the trees.

Although Cumberland Bay State Park wasn’t too different ecologically from the waterfront in Burlington, it was still neat to see the other side of Lake Champlain. I visit Plattsburgh almost every weekend, but I had never visited this park before so it was really fun to explore and look for signs of nature. I will definitely be going back when it gets even warmer and maybe I’ll make another update in the future!

This week, I didn’t go to my usual spot looking for wildlife signs, but instead kept an eye out for them on my everyday walks across campus and throughout Burlington. I didn’t find a ton of wildlife, but I was sure to record what I did find on iNaturalist. My first wildlife encounter was on Tuesday right outside my dorm building on athletic campus as I was returning from my morning class. I saw a squirrel run up to a tree and climb it, which doesn’t seem significant at all, but it was special to me because I got to see the squirrel leave a perfect trail of tracks firsthand.

The next day I had another wildlife sighting in the evening while I was in downtown Burlington. I looked up at the sky and saw a TON of black birds flying together, but not in a specific pattern. I believe they were crows because crows tend to fly in large groups, called murders, in the winter and they looked to be about the size of crows. I can’t be too sure since they were quite far and I wasn’t wearing my contacts, but I tentatively ID’ed them as crows on iNaturalist.

My final significant wildlife sighting was on Friday when I walked to Redstone campus looking for another sign of wildlife. I was looking at what I thought might’ve been a track in the snow (it was likely just an indent where snow had fallen) and discovered something else that I would’ve otherwise missed: snow fleas! Technically called springtails on the iNaturalist app, I was surprised to learn snow fleas aren’t actually fleas or even insects but rather arthropods.

Although I didn’t go out on a hike in the woods looking for wildlife as usual, I was still able to see wild animals on my regular, everyday excursions in Burlington. I really enjoyed using iNaturalist to record my sightings as well as check out what others have spotted nearby. This experience has taught me to keep an eye out for wildlife when I’m least expecting it as well as to use iNaturalist more often.

The main change I noticed on my latest visit to my spot was the temperature: it was freezing! When I visited my spot in Centennial Woods back in December, it was around 30°F. When I visited my spot this week on a frigid January afternoon, it was only 6°F and I was definitely feeling the wind chill despite wearing several layers. Coming from Buffalo, New York, I am very familiar with snow and low temperatures, but this was cold even for me! I did manage to spot some wildlife tracks though, despite not staying there for very long.

My best guess for these tracks would be a bunny.

This was probably just from a domestic dog, but it could’ve been a coyote.

I’m not great at identifying wildlife tracks yet, but I had a couple hypotheses for those tracks above. The tracks below, on the other hand, are snow mysteries to me. One of my main goals this year is to get better at identifying tracks, so maybe I’ll solve these mysteries at a later date.

These “tracks” were very small and seemed to stop abruptly, so I’m not sure what could’ve done this.

Other than the temperature drop and the new tracks, there wasn’t much change in my spot since December. The trees were still bare and everything was still coated with snow. I didn’t go down to the brook, but I predict that it’s mostly frozen over due to the sub-zero temperatures we’ve been having. Hopefully it’ll be a little warmer the next time I return to my spot!

I know it’s still technically autumn, but it definitely felt like winter when I visited my spot a couple days ago. All the leaves have now disappeared from the trees, and all that remains are the needles on the Eastern white pines and the other evergreens. This allowed for greater visibility through the trees, so I could see the nearby stream and surrounding woods much more easily. The sky was a beautiful light blue, and the air was just below freezing.

The ground was coated with a couple inches of snow, adding a new level of beauty to my spot. The usual sounds of nature were absorbed by the snow, which created a quiet and serene atmosphere. I searched the snow for any signs of wild animals. There were a lot of dog pawprints, which made it a bit difficult to know if some tracks were coyotes or foxes or just dogs. However, I did find quite a few trails of tracks that I am fairly certain are from wild animals, but I’m not certain exactly which animals. Here are a couple of these trails:

I decided to venture deeper into Centennial Woods past my regular spot to see what else I could find. I walked to the stream and beyond, but I mostly just saw the white of the snow, the brown of the tree trunks, and the occasional green of the pine needles. That was until I came upon a tree with bright red berries that stood out among its surroundings. It was nice to see a pop of color in a relatively dull landscape.

Finally, I decided it was time to head back. My nose was getting cold in the crisp air, and I felt satisfied with what I had found. As I was just about to exit the woods, I suddenly saw a flash of large brown wings in front of me. My eyes followed the wings to a nearby tree, and I quickly whipped out my phone to get a picture. It was an owl! I believe it was a barred owl, but it was a bit too far away to get a clear view. I was so excited to see an owl, I couldn’t believe it! It was a truly magical sight among the frosted branches. This might have been the best visit to my spot yet.

For my phenological exploration this week, I decided to go to the waterfront and walk parallel to the lake. I took a bus from campus to downtown Burlington and started my walk to the right of the ECHO center. I walked for about 20 to 30 minutes, taking in the nature around me. I saw several species of trees, ducks in the lake, and some birds migrating over me. Most of the leaves were gone from the deciduous trees, and it was pretty cold down by the lake. I ended my walk right around sunset, stopping to sit down and watch the beautiful colors change. It was nice to explore somewhere different from my usual spot!

A lot has changed at my spot in just a couple short weeks. The leaves have changed from green to yellow, and many of them have fallen to the ground. The air was crisp and cool, contrasting the warm weather we had in early October. Despite the cold, I sat on my makeshift log bench for around 15 minutes and took in my surroundings.

During this time, I heard many different noises. It had just rained, so I could hear water droplets falling from the leaves. Centennial Brook was running fast in the near distance due to the heavy rain. In addition to the droplets falling, I occasionally heard a leaf fall from a tree to the ground. There wasn’t much animal activity, but I did hear some birds cawing and chirping above me. It was a very peaceful and stress-relieving experience; so if you’re ever stressed about school, go to Centennial Woods and just sit and listen!

After walking through Centennial Woods for a couple minutes, you will come to a small clearing, surrounded by Eastern white pines and several types of maples. You’ll know you’re there when you see a white sign warning of poison ivy. This spot has a fallen tree that serves as the perfect bench to sit on and relax with the surrounding nature. Through the trees ahead, you can see a lower section of the land near a stream. It’s the perfect spot for me because it’s so close to campus and yet I am completely surrounded by trees and wildlife.

When I went to my spot this week, I didn’t observe much wildlife other than the birds chirping above me. A lot of the leaves were still green, but I saw hints of yellow and red as I walked through the woods to my spot. The ground was scattered with fallen leaves and long, light brown needles from the Eastern white pines. That seemed to be the dominant species in my spot, but I also observed sugar maples, red maples, white oaks, and more. There were also quite a few ferns on the ground among the fallen debris. This spot is nothing special, but it holds a lot of natural beauty that will evolve throughout the coming seasons.